It’s now the end of the first full calendar month since MV Transportation took over the MetroAccess contract from Logisticare.
It’s been a month highlighted by astounding numbers of complaints, a whole lot of denials and defensiveness, a Congressman stepping into the fray, as well as DC Councilmembers, and a new General Manager for WMATA who probably is wondering right now just what the hell he walked into.
Some things have improved since the beginning of the month, as MV Transportation and (surprisingly) WMATA have taken the feedback of riders on board and implemented changes to what we were presented with on January 15th.
WMATA reversed its policies, saving itself the potential of being found to be in violation of the ADA, when it came to calling riders to inform them that their trip had arrived. This had been a “bonus” while Logisticare had been operating the service, one performed volunatarily by those conscientious and responsible drivers who knew that such things were of huge benefit, but WMATA had initially stopped the practice by policy.
This lack of any “reasonable accomodation” to the specific disability needs of some riders led to a outcry, with drivers showing up then leaving again, the rider being classed as a no-show because they were not given the courtesy of being told their ride had arrived, a system that many cab companies in the Metro DC area have been using for quite some time.
MV provided the solution, scrambling to finish the IVR notification system ahead of schedule, and at the beginning of February we began to get the calls telling us our rides are here.
Likewise, WMATA began to “clarify” its position regarding the assistance drivers could offer riders when picking them up, reversing a “You don’t leave the van” to a more effective compromise position.
February was also the month of things being created, with first the creation of the ad-hoc committee of the RAC, then the Critical Trip Team inside MetroAccess. MV itself stated it would hire two part-time customer advocates as well. It’s early days yet to see if any of these groups will have any effect, however, as none of them will report until the end of March.
February brought DC ParaTransit Info back out of retirement, as well. With a new look, and new features, we hope that we will continue as we have in the past to provide a resource to the community, as well as point out when the Emperor not only has no clothes, he’s forgotten to bathe.
Unlike most others who are participating in the issues surrounding ParaTransit in the Metro DC Area, we hope that, as riders ourselves, our motives are much clearer - we use the service as well, we have a vested interest in it running properly.
February also saw changes, though subtle, in the way WMATA is approaching the issues, being more open in some respects to the ridership. The announcement today of the ad-hoc committee’s Forum on March 13th is a step closer, the first meeting dedicated solely to the issue of MetroAccess.
Likewise, both WMATA in the shape of Mr Christian T. Kent, the Director of MetroAccess Services, and MV Transportation in the shape of Mrs Nikki Frenney, Director of Communications, have been open and accessible (no pun intended) with the questions that have been directed to them, even to the extent of proving the new “open door” policy and inviting DC Paratransit Info (and other riders) to tour the call center and to ask questions, as well as to listen to suggestions.
Having seen some of those suggestions being implemented ourselves, this gives us hope that the issues surrounding MetroAccess can actually be resolved.
Although it is early days yet, there seems to have been a change also in WMATA’s press releases, the tone having become less defensive and less implying that the issues being raised are a disgruntled minority complaining about the loss of some kind of “privilege”. Candace Smith, the Public Relations Officer for WMATA, has been a good example of this shift in attitude by Media Relations, helping to route questions to the right place, or providing answers herself.
Unfortunately, WMATA has not extended that openness quite fully yet, with the Director of ADA Programs for WMATA still declining to answer any questions or respond to emails, even on subjects as mundane as “Why are there no ‘This is a disabled place’ stickers on either end of railcars to mark the wheelchair bays there?”. We are, however, working with someone else in WMATA’s Office of ADA Programs to find answers to such questions that aren’t related to MetroAccess.
The questions regarding WMATA’s accuracy with their statistics also still stand - They continue to not list complaints received at the most logical place for such complaints to be filed, and their on-time performance statistics do not match up with the figures they provide.
Overall, things are certainly not the chaos that we had to endure in January, but whilst things are still not perfect, and a lot of things still need to be addressed, there does seem to be hope that the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t a MetroAccess van passing us by. March promises to be an interesting month, as the ad-hoc committee and the Critical Trip Team both report on the flaws of the service, and the riders finally have the opportunity to fully air their views in a dedicated forum.
